Maharashtra awaits HC verdict on CCMP bridge course for BHMS doctors to prescribe allopathic medicines

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday said that it is awaiting the final court order on the issue of allowing homoeopathy doctors to prescribe certain allopathic medicines, although nearly 8,000 practitioners have completed the mandatory bridge course.

Responding to a calling attention notice in the state assembly, Minister of State for Medical Education Madhuri Misal stated that the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) was introduced in view of the shortage of MBBS doctors in rural and remote areas of Maharashtra.

The programme allows doctors who have completed the five-and-a-half-year BHMS degree to take up an additional one-year course to gain limited knowledge of prescribing certain allopathic medicines when necessary, she said. "Nearly 8,000 doctors have completed the course, and 33 institutions are providing the training," Misal said.

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She noted that some allopathic doctors and their associations had opposed the course, and the matter subsequently reached the Bombay High Court. Following an interim order of the court, the government created an online portal for registration of eligible homoeopathy doctors, she said. "About 2,182 doctors have registered on the portal so far. However, as the matter is sub-judice and the final court order is yet to be received, no certificates have been issued to them," Misal said.

She clarified that the initiative was not intended to promote one medical system over another but aimed at addressing the shortage of doctors in rural areas and ensuring basic healthcare services for the public. The state government has implemented the registration process in accordance with the high court's interim directions and will take further steps only after the final verdict, the minister added.